


I'd Know You Anywhere

by Ranger_of_Estel



Category: Eureka (TV)
Genre: A town called Eureka, Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, F/M, Missing scene S3E10, My face or yours
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-02 18:06:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14550336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ranger_of_Estel/pseuds/Ranger_of_Estel
Summary: ~Missing/Extended scenes from 3x10 (My face or yours?)~When Zane finds out that one of the scientists at GD had found a way to turn herself into Jo it explained why she'd been acting so strangely.But when he chooses to face Julia Golden, he realizes that things are not as they seem.





	I'd Know You Anywhere

**Author's Note:**

> I've been doing a re-watch of Eureka and couldn't help but write a little something.  
> This show deserves so much more love and recognition than it's gotten!
> 
> ~~~~~  
> Also, huge thanks to Jael for the Beta

* * *

                Zane steps into the room, the woman he’s never met laying on the bed. He absently notes the way she slides her fingers together then pulls them apart; Jo does the same thing when she’s on edge. He shakes the thought clear and opens the coms, knocking lightly on the glass to get her attention.

                She shifts, eyes opening as she pushes to her feet. “Zane, thank god you’re here.”

                He’s not sure if it’s the fact she knows his name, or how she says it that sets him on edge. “Julia, right?” He shifts his weight. “Allison told me what you did to Jo.”

                She’s looking up at him. “No. She’s Julia Golden.” She lifts one hand to motion to herself. “And I’m Jo.”

                “Ah.” He gives a half nod. Allison had told him the woman was unstable. “Psych ward, I’m Henry.” He jokes, because something still feels off and this is helping less than it should.

                “I can prove it,” the woman replies, one hand coming up again to motion between them. “Ask me something personal that only Jo could know.”

                He wants to leave, wants to forget he ever came in here…but that nagging feeling won’t go away, so he faces her once more and clears his throat. “Pet peeves?”

                Her hands have shifted to rest near her hips, and her voice is sure. “Small guns, big egos.” Her weight shifts as she gives him an almost scolding look. “And over-critical boyfriends.”

                Not enough. “Boxers or briefs?”

                Her chin raises a bit. “Me or you?”

                “Funny,” he deadpans. “Me.”

                “Boxers,” she replies, then continues with, “except on laundry day. Which, by my count, would be tomorrow.”

                He’s beginning to think that either Julia Golden has been spying on him, or his girlfriend really is the victim here. “First date?”

                The woman on the other side of the glass changes a little at that, softens. “Sunday brunch at Café Diem.” He can’t help but step closer, watch the vulnerability in the brown eyes looking back. “I was nervous.” She glances down, then returns her gaze to his. “You brought a rose, I wore a sundress.” There’s a catch in her voice. “You said something smart.” She pauses, eyes dropping shut and head dropping slightly. “Which made me feel dumb.”

                He remembers: he’d insulted her being at church…thought he’d screwed up his one shot with the most stunning woman he’d ever met.

                “But,” she draws him back to the present, a smile pulling at her lips, “you made up for it on our second date.” She falls silent, her eyes pleading with him as she offers a half smile and little shrug of her shoulders. It’s the most open she’s ever been with him.

                He shifts to his heels, turning to face the guard and making a quick motion that he wants a couple minutes inside. The other man nods, and he quickly punches in the code so he can step inside the cell with her. “So.” He moves so they are only a step apart, offering a small smirk. “Does that mean I said something dumb, or made you feel smart?”

                There’s a flash of relief as she gives a little shrug. “A little bit of both.”

                “And how’d the date end?” It’s more a challenge than a question of who she is.

                “Let me give you a reminder.” She closes the gap between them with Jo’s sauntering gait, then puts one hand on his shoulder as she leans onto her toes to press her lips to his.

                It’s a brief kiss, and it’s a little strange to have Jo kiss him but not have it feel like her lips. Still, the kiss itself is familiar, is enough. As she drops back down, he smiles. “That’s my Josephina.”

                She hits him in the shoulder, hard enough he shifts his weight slightly. There’s fire in her eyes now. “Now get me out of here, before I tase you for kissing another woman.”

                “Yep.” He can’t help the grin on his face, the relief that the woman he loves still picks him. “Definitely Jo.” He turns for the door, intending to have a chat with Allison and Henry before hunting down the real Julia himself.

                He stops as Jo makes a gasping noise behind him, turning to find her unsteady as she steps back toward the bed. “Zane, what’s happening to me?” She sounds a little breathless as he kneels before her.

                He doesn’t know, and it scares him. “Hey, we’ll sort this out.” He tucks hair behind her ear, offers the most encouraging smile he can muster and then rises to bang on the glass and motion for the guard to open the door.

                “Come on, Jo.” He helps her to her feet, taking most of her weight without actually picking her up…he doesn’t have a death wish. As soon as the door is open, he’s easing her through, giving the guard a stern look. “This woman is sick, I’m taking her for medical attention.”

                The guard nods, doesn’t question as they make their way into the halls of GD. Using his free hand, Zane pulls out his PDA.

“Allison,” the woman answers.

                “You’ve got the wrong one.” It’s almost a growl.

                “What are you talking about, Zane?” Allison’s voice fills with concern.

                “You got the wrong person. Julia switched their faces, the woman in holding is definitely Jo.” That woman stumbles and he curses. “And she’s suffering some kind of side effects.”

                “Oh no…” There’s half a second pause, then Allison adds: “Take her to Dr. Stefano’s lab. I’ll get Henry and meet you there.”

                “Copy that.” Zane clicks the PDA off, focus returning to the woman at his side. “Almost there.”

                She nods, and soon they reach the lab and get her into the scanner once more. Zane watches with his arms crossed over his chest as the blue light scans her from head to toe.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Dr. Stefano states. “Her DNA markers don’t match her original profile.” The man motions toward his computer. “They don’t match any profile.”

                “I’m so sorry, Jo.” Allison motions toward her. “I still can’t believe that’s you in there.”

                Zane grabs a tablet, running diagnostics of his own. “Trust me, it’s her,” he comments, stepping aside so the other woman can pass him.

                “Just fix me and all’s forgiven,” Jo replies uneasily.

                “We’re working on it,” Henry states, walking over to ask Zane’s opinion on something. It takes Zane longer than it should to answer, but his focus keeps being drawn back to Jo as her hands and jaw clench in an effort to hide the waves of pain.

                Allison’s voice catches his attention once more. “…her DNA to decompose, it’s like her cells are misfiring.”

                He shifts his attention to the other woman, that fear digging into his chest once more. “So if we can’t restart them again, that means…”

                He’s cut off by Henry. “…that being stuck in Julia’s body is the least of her problems.” The older man looks at him. “It means her cells stop functioning.” There’s something in his gaze, a pity Zane has seen before. “It means we could lose her for good.”

                It twists Zane’s gut, and when he looks back, Jo looks at him like she’s lost. “No.” Initially he doesn’t realize he’s said it out loud, but when attention turns to him, he guesses as much. “No, I won’t let that happen.”

                He moves to a desk, runs a hand through his hair as he runs calculation after calculation until between them, they have something solid to work with. He runs to Julia’s lab, tossing apologies over his shoulders as he knocks people and paperwork to the side. He returns at a slightly lowered speed, more in fear of damaging the complex chair  she’d used to swap faces, than out of concern for the people lining the halls.

                When he re-enters the lab, Henry is getting the small devices attached to Jo’s temples as he moves to hook in the chair itself. “I can’t believe my cells are misfiring?” she asks, sounding tired, drained.

                “Bodies regulate tiny impulses that allow our cells to function,” he answers, looking up from where he’s working. “Yours aren’t getting enough juice.”

                “Your DNA strands are essentially unraveling,” Dr. Stefano adds, carefully leading her toward the chair. “The genetic lines between Jo, and Julia, are getting blurred.”

                “I’ve been in a blur ever since you shocked me with your stupid scanner.” She scoots herself back in the chair.

                “Again,” the scientist puts his hands out before him, “really sorry about that.”

                There’s a pause, then. “What if we do it again?”

                Zane straightens behind the chair to look down at her, Allison beating him to a response. “One near-electrocution wasn’t enough?”

                Jo tries to sit up, and he moves around the chair to stop her with a hand against her shoulder as she speaks. “My cells are misfiring,” she says as she allows him to lean her back into the chair once more. “What if we give them a genetic jump-start?”

                “The scanner does have your original DNA profile.” Allison looks over at them thoughtfully.

                “Programming them into Julia’s device might restart the markers,” Henry continues. “It’s like a cellular reboot.”

                Zane is on his feet again, looking at the other two scientists. “But we need Julia to show us how.” There’s no way any of them are using guesswork to get the device working.

                “Well, we’re trying to pinpoint her location now.” Allison makes her way over to them.

                Zane is about to tell her that’s not good enough, but Jo speaks first. “If this is happening to me, it must be happening to her too.” He can hear the pain radiating from her voice. “Can we track her down the way you tracked me?”

                Allison shakes her head. “Not if her DNA is degenerating.”

                “It won’t match the profile in the system,” Henry adds from his post.

                Zane returns the tablet, intent on trying anyway. “Then,” Jo says, looking between them, “try searching for Fargo’s.”

                The moment she says it, Zane feels like an idiot, and with a quick motion from Henry, he’s sprinting over to help. Fargo was why this all started, it only figures that he’s part of the solution. They get the location, and it’s only Henry’s hand on his shoulder that keeps Zane from bolting toward the shooting range.

When they arrive, they find Julia, still looking like Jo, tucked into Fargo’s side on a bench. Seeing Jo’s face contorted in pain, even if it’s not really Jo, pulls some of the fury out of Zane’s veins.

                Still, he wants them up and in the lab as quickly as possible. The moment they arrive, he leaves Julia to Henry, grabbing the tablet and pulling a box up to the side of Jo. He keeps glancing up from his work at the woman beside him, and she offers a weak smile. He reaches up to cradle her face in his hand. “We’ll fix this.” It’s almost a whisper, but she nods a little all the same.

                “Okay, that’s it.” Dr. Stefano approaches them, pulling Zane’s attention up. “I’ve programmed her original DNA profile into Julia’s transfiguration device.”

                “All right.” Henry steps up. “She’s stabilized for the moment, we need to this _now_.”

                Dr. Stefano nods. “All right, let’s go.” He activates the device, and Zane watches as the headpiece folds in to frame her face with light.

                He can see the pain in her eyes, the way she tenses, and he instinctively takes her hand into his.

                “Her blood pressure is dropping.” Allison frowns. “Her system is too unstable.”

                “We stop this thing now, we may not get another chance,” Henry replies.

                “She’s getting worse!” Allison counters.

                Zane is standing, leaning forward with her hand still tightly in his. “Come on, Jo,” he says, keeping his voice low, afraid it will crack if he gets louder. “Don’t give up on me now.”

                She’s gripping his hand so hard he’s pretty sure there will be bruises, but right now none of that matters. He’d let her break every bone in his hand if it meant she kept fighting.

                “She’s still not responding.” Henry’s voice feels a million miles away.

                “We have to stop this,” Allison replies.

                “No, just hang on!” Henry snaps.

                Before Zane can comment, fuses begin to blow, sparks coming from most of the electrical devices in the room. He lifts the tablet in his hand to shield his face, gaze dropping to the chair the moment the sparks stop. He hears the generators kicking in, lights stabilizing, but the only thing he cares about is the way Jo whimpers under the lights.

                But he can see her facial structure changing, familiar features returning as she clings to his hand even more tightly. He returns to sitting on the box, watching in relief as his Josephina comes back. “Her DNA profile is starting to stabilize!” Dr. Stefano exclaims.

                Her eyes open, and she smiles at him. “Hey.” Her voice is breathless, but it’s hers once more.

                He smirks back, thumb brushing over her hand. “You had me worried there.”

                She reaches up, fingers moving across her cheek and neck. There’s a flash of uncertainty as she looks at him. “How do I look?”

                He smiles, fighting around the lump in his throat as he nods at her a little. “Perfect.”

                Her features soften a little, and he thinks she might be blushing just slightly. Normally he might tease her, but right now, right now he’s just glad she’s all right. He looks up as Fargo and Julia approach, bristling fractionally at the other woman as he rises to his feet.

                “Thanks.” Julia inclines her head, leaning heavily on Fargo.

                “It’s okay.” Jo gives a tired smile, her hand never leaving Zane’s as she gets out of the chair. They walk to med lab in mostly silence, and once she has a clean bill of health, and her uniform is returned, they make their way through the hall once more.

                They make it to Stark’s wing, and Zane watches the light reflecting from the water dance across her skin. “You know, it was fun to be Carter for a day,” she says, “but I’m really happy to be back in my skin.”

                He bumps her shoulder with his, tugging at their joined hands so she’ll turn to face him. “Well…” His free hand comes up to cover where hers is tugging him closer by his shirt. “You are perfect.”

                “No.” Her walls are back up again, and she’s shaking her head slightly. “I’m hyper-sensitive and over-reactive.”

                “Well…” His hand releases hers long enough for him to exaggerate a shrug. “My ego’s too big, and I’m overly critical.”

                She offers a half nod. “No argument here.” She tries to keep a straight face, but he just laughs.

                “Seriously though,” he holds her gaze, giving her hands a gentle squeeze, “I love you just the way you are.” He tilts his head slightly. “Flaws and all.”

                “Love?” She looks up at him, a smile blossoming across her face moments after she says it.

                Yeah, he doesn’t doubt it after today. “Can you handle that?” he smiles, leaning a little closer.

                “I think I could get used to it.” She’s so close their noses brush, and this all feels so _right_.

                “Good.” His lips brush hers with the word, and then he dips his head just enough to kiss her soundly.

                She reciprocates, pulling herself impossibly closer with the hand on his shirt, and they’re both a little breathless when they pull away. She lifts herself up for another, shorter, kiss, then pulls away with a regretful little sigh. “I really need to go meet Carter.”

                He nods. “All right.” He tilts his head. “Dinner later?”

                She smiles, eyes sparkling with life once more. “Dinner sounds good.” She gives their entwined hands one last squeeze, then turns to walk away.

                 He watches her go, knows she’s swaying her hips entirely for his benefit. He’s still not sure how he caught such an amazing woman, even less sure how he keeps her…but, god, is he glad she’s his. And for the first time, he’s not afraid of being in love.

**Author's Note:**

> For those of you wondering, the end in Stark's wing is actually from a deleted scene.   
> Depending on how this goes over maybe I'll write more for this series?


End file.
